For years, we had a Nest and loved it. Then we put in a new HVAC system from Amana. And, the system itself … it’s amazing and we love it too … the catch is, the system vendor locks you into using their own app for the thermostat. The Skyport app. And, well, put bluntly … it sucks. Not just as a thermostat app, but it lacks the ability to add additional sensors and set up room following, among many other things.
That frustrated me for a long time. Then Daikin bought Amana, and at some point in that transition, their proprietary thermostat on the wall finally started exposing its API. And that’s all I needed! So, eager to ditch their thermostat app, I wrote my own! I hooked it up to the Ambient Weather sensors I already had around the house, taught it to follow the rooms we actually live in, and decided it was worth releasing for everyone else stuck in the same spot.
That app is Hearth, and it works with Daikin, Amana, and Goodman smart thermostats … and just about any other thermostat you’ve got in Home Assistant, too. And you can check it out at meethearth.app!
The Rooms You Actually Live In
Here’s what bugged me most. A thermostat on the wall only knows how warm it is right where it’s mounted, and that’s rarely where any of us actually are. What I wanted was simple: cool bedrooms at night, a comfy living room during the day, and a cozy basement at night when we’re watching a movie, with nobody needing to get up to mess with the thermostat or app at any point.
That’s what Hearth does for us now. It watches the rooms that matter at the moment and nudges the thermostat until they’re right. Honestly, it’s the part I’d have the hardest time giving up.
Bring Your Own Sensors
I started with the Ambient Weather sensors I already had, but I didn’t want Hearth to only work for folks who happen to own the same gear I do. So it also works with Govee’s Wi-Fi thermometers, which are cheap and easy if you’re starting from scratch. And if you’re the tinkering type and already run Home Assistant, Hearth has an integration for it, so pretty much any temperature sensor Home Assistant can see (Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, your ESPHome boards) can be a room in Hearth. Your own scripts can send their readings in, too. The sensor guides on the Hearth site have all the details.
Home Assistant FTW
That integration doesn’t stop at sensors. If your thermostat is one Hearth can’t talk to directly, but Home Assistant can, Hearth can run it through Home Assistant, room following and all. It’s the same app on your phone either way; Home Assistant just does the talking to the thermostat. If that sounds like your setup, the Home Assistant guide walks through it, and the integration itself is open source as ha-hearth.
Around the Campfire
A bit of a confession. The name, and the whole look of the app, is an homage to one of my favorite video games of all time. If you’ve played it, you’ll probably catch it right away: a small forest planet at night, pine green throughout, campfire orange for heating, geyser blue for cooling, and a tiny planet and its moon orbiting while things load.
Switch to dark mode and there’s a quiet night sky behind every page. Keep an eye on it long enough … say, twenty or so minutes … and you just might see something. If it rings a bell, welcome home, fellow Hearthian. And if it doesn’t, no matter, none of the easter eggs in the app are otherwise intrusive, so it still adds to a generally warm and fresh look-and-feel for the app.
Early Access
Hearth is out now on the App Store and Google Play. If you set up now, it’s free for life. Homes that join later will pay a small yearly fee to cover running costs.
Spread the word! Head to meethearth.app to get started, and if you have questions or feedback, let me know at contact@meethearth.app.